alternative fuel for our cars? do you think of hope for the environment, or food, clothing, shelter? we do. weyerhaeuser, growing ideas. >> this is tough work that they do. they have been at it for two years. >> this week on "inside washington," president obama's chief of staff quits to run for mayor of chicago. faced with widespread voter discontent, president obama tries to fire up his base. >> we cannot let this country fall backward because some were scared to fight. >> congress leaves town without dealing with tax cuts. >> the democrats leave town without stopping these tax increases. they are turning their backs on the american people. >> jon stewart stephen colbert

lead a rally at the weekend before the election. does this mean trouble for democrats? >> oh, my god! [applause] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> white house chief of staff rahm emanuel is leaving washington to chase his dream. he wants to be the next mayor of chicago. he will have to find a new place to live because the people renting his chicago house are not leaving. also leaving, larry summers, the budget director peter orszag is already gone, and so is the chair of the council of economic advisers, christina romer. david axelrod will hang in at least until next year. what impact will rahm emanuel's

departure have on the white house operation, nina? >> it will clean up the language. pete rouse is such a different kind of person. >> the new chief of staff. >> at least the interim chief of staff. rahm emanuel was an enforcer and had great political instincts, and in many ways very good judgment. but he was ruthless not just to his enemies. he was ruthless to people in the white house he disagreed with, and it made for a very difficult situation at times. >> what do you think, mark? >> pete rouse is in the historic mold for staff. a passion for anonymity and no personal agenda. obama chose rahm emanuel and he, quite frankly, was the chief of staff and devoted his time and effort and energy to it, but he always had a public persona. you won't see pete rouse doing "charlie rose."

>> colby, your take. >> rahm emanuel was a lightning rod on a lot of issues. it is probably a good move on the part of president obama to get somebody in who is less of a harbinger for trouble as rahm emanuel was. >> charles? >> it will make no difference. the buck stops at the oval office and the president's chair. the prospects and the future depend on obama. there will probably be a more passive two years. rouse probably can handle the possibility. i am not sure rahm emanuel -- rouse probably can handle the passivity. i am not sure rahm could have. >> tell us about pete rouse. >> worked for tom daschle, as

widespread respect and trust. submerged his own ego. that was the pattern for staff people. peter orszag and rahm emanuel were entirely different. you mentioned peter orszag leaving. his first public move once he got out was to write a column pulling the rug out from his former boss on the tax issue. there is a question of putting people in positions of power on staff when they have their own ambitions, their own agendas, and it will some point come in conflict. >> you will not see pete rouse on the sunday talk shows. >> no, we won't. i think that bush into trouble eventually to help a tight group of people around him. it is already getting obama into trouble. it is not a question of bringing in an outsider as the chief of staff. it is making sure you actually

have contact with a lot of other people. i don't mean in the political sense. i mean actually talking to them, doing a few less media interviews and a few more chats with, let's say, business leaders who really disagree with him about some things. you can actually learn something. >> larry summers and peter orszag and christina romer gone, will there be any change in economic policy? >> the times will dictate some kind of change. for example, on tax policy, and we will talk about this probably later in the show, but it is clear that the democrats had no consistent view on tax policy. the republicans have a consistent view. president obama will have to compromise in some way, so you see changes. >> john boehner, the house

minority leader, said a while back that the president ought to get rid of tim geithner,. >> it is not a matter of personality. tim geithner worked with the bush administration. henry paulson, bernanke, and tim bender were a trio that, i would say, said the american economy -- perhaps inadvertent, but trying everything available. we just got a report on tarp that is going to lose a lot less monday by hundreds of billions than anyone expected and might even end up turning a profit. he is a guy who was kind of middle of the road and i don't see a reason he would jettison him to i think the real issue is, it is obama committed the keynesian economics are not? i think he is and will not have any change in policy. >> john kennedy said there were

three things that were real, god, folly, and laughter. the first two or beyond our comprehension. this is an administration conspicuously free of joy and laughter. there is nothing self- deprecating about anybody in it in a position of leadership. i think that is something that is missing, in a town wants desperately for barack obama and his administration to succeed. >> i agree. it starts at the top, it is his description of obama. >> i don't think, is without -- i don't think obama is without tumor. -- without humor. wry does not work as a political tool. >> the problem is lack of success. if obama had been succeeding

with the policies, he could be as dour as he wants to be a people was still cheer him. -- and people would still cheer him. it is not his personality, is the way he's executing policy in the city. there he has very serious problems, not just with the health-care debate, but on things like afghanistan, on tax policy. it is hard to find a consistent theme of the obama administration. >> let me dissent. the third year of ronald reagan's administration, in the midst of cold war tensions and a bad economy, gallup found that american populism was at its highest point in 25 years, -- american optimism was at its highest point since 1959. bill clinton was able to generate up optimism and happiness. the president sets the tone in

directly for the nation. >> i am telling you, wisconsin, we are bringing about change, but you have got to stick with me. >> how bad is it going to be for the democrats? >> there is a hurricane coming. we don't know if it is going to be a class 1, class 3, or class 5. but batten down the hatches, it is going to be a long night. >> democratic pollster peter hart. the latest poll numbers tell us that 71% of republicans are thinking happy thoughts about the tea party, which means they will run, not walk, to the polls. the president tells "rolling stone," "it is inexcusable for any democrat to stand on the sidelines. that people are sitting on their hands complaining is irresponsible." who is talking to, mark?

>> what was once referred to as the professional left. vice president biden said for democrats to stop whining, which always it's a good response when said by a parent to a child. >> have you seen the left blogosphere? it is whining. [laughter] >> if you would think that the presidency is slightly higher than the left blogosphere, but it is not, and that is what the problems. the president as an unbelievably in the skin, left or right. his obsession with fox is a good example of that. look where he delivered that clip that you showed, university of wisconsin. it is an index of how much trouble he is that where does he go to to get a nice reception? probably the most liberal college in america. where else will he go? san francisco or berlin? this presidency is in trouble

because it had a president two years ago who inspired and now he hectors. "if you don't believe in me, you are not sincere in the first place." that is not exactly the way to win hearts and minds. >> university of wisconsin is an excellent choice. this is where he made his start in the presidential campaign. he got an enthusiastic response -- >> surprise, surprise. >> he is trying to generate -- >> excitement. >> on thursday he had a similar event in washington with young democrats to get them fired up, because that is what he has to do. >> madison, wisconsin, is as close as you get in america -- >> oh, come on.

>> russ feingold, the incumbent senator, is in trouble. he is behind in the polls. >> he is in trouble. i don't know how bad the trouble is, but he has to get out that vote. exactly that vote. i have seen a variety of polls in some where he is about even and others were key is way behind. mark me know what better than i about this -- marked may know better than i about this. >> in the latest survey it seven points he is trailing, russ feingold. >> the person he is opposing is a newcomer. >> absolute newcomer, deep pockets, self-funded. charles' point about the

president of fox news -- fox news is the only news organization in the history of the country that has on its payroll four president of candidates. rick santorum, sarah palin, newt gingrich, mike huckabee are all on their peril. wjla.co -- their payroll. >> fox is the new virginia, the birthplace of presidents. [laughter] >> what a stable. >> washington, jefferson, madison, everybody except adams. >> and they give money to the republicans -- >> pennsylvania, colorado -- >> tossups. colorado is a tossup. connecticut is a tossup, and open seat. it literally is a tossup, an open seat.

reid's seats in nevada, possible at best. patty murray -- >> washington state. >> and west virginia. >> in west virginia you have a governor with a 70% approval rating runs for the senate and suddenly it looks like any trouble. this is weird. >> he is running with the administration's liabilities. that is what they have done, tied him to washington and this democratic administration. everything else being equal, when you add the candidate of an unpopular national administration, as republicans learned in 2006 and 2008, in a close race you are probably going to lose. >> to my colleagues it looks weird. this is the result of two years of democratic governance. that is why these are tossups. >> the reason is risk is that they know joe manchin, they note the governor he is. >> in the house, 38 cause of

seats, 37 are democrats. -- 38 tossup seats, 37 are democrats. >> tax cuts? what tax cuts? congress takes a break from tax cuts. >> washington democrat's campaign to save their own jobs while doing nothing to say the jobs of working americans. >> that is congressman mike pence of indiana. congress has decided to call the votes on tax cuts -- call off a vote on tax cuts. why would they do that, charles? >> because of sheer incompetence. you have ideological issues in this campaign, but you are also going to have issues about congress and the control of democrats, and sheer incompetence. no budget for the first time in a quarter-century. not a single appropriations bill passed. and here is the democratic party in control the house, senate,

and the white house, and cannot tell americans what the tax rates are going to be on january 1. dividend, capital gains, estate tax. that is sheer incompetence. >> and this shows that what is going on overall in the house and senate, more in the senate, is a demonstration of what the conservative minority can do, unified minority, with a very peculiar rules. on things that you would think you could have easily gotten through, like the money pledged for haiti, it has been held up on hold, and appointments to judicial, ambassadorial, are being held by single members of the senate. >> i would like to say that it is the dastardly republicans who are doing this. i would love to say that. unfortunately, on the question

of tax cuts, it was democrats who said, we cannot wait to have this debate, and we're going to extend tax cuts for the middle class and cut out the tax cuts for the wealthy people, we are going to do it." >> and then they didn't. >> they punted and put it off until after the election. of course republicans are having a field day with desper -- with this. >> but listen to what nina just said. no wonder people are angry. they pay them to get things done. >> the answer is geographical, against washington, against congress, government in general. just a word in defense of house democrats -- they have cast the tough votes. charles says there is no legislative record. there is a historic legislative record c.

the question is, is it popular? it is not popular now. will it be popular a generation from now? we don't know but they will walk the plank again to vote to raise taxes or let the tax cuts expire for the most affluent, most privileged, the millionaires, a hedge fund people, the ones that charles wants to put in. the deserving rich. >> like you and me. >> they stood up, and democrats and the senate could not do it. the republicans were absolutely united, saying, " we will kill it." the republicans are committed to the school discipline. they are going to balance the budget and cut taxes. we collect 14% of gdp in the country in taxes -- >> those arguments are for democrats to do what they should have done, and they did not do it. the failure lies with them. i know there is an

obstructionist group of republicans, but if the democrats cannot come together -- >> there was a letter by 31 democratic members of congress to nancy pelosi opposing her position on tax cuts. that is why did not happen. there were also rebels in the senate. and mark talks about the great world historical things the democrats have done. i'm talking about sheer competence in the business of the order of the day. just hold on a second. appropriations, and nothing. no budget, in an era of huge deficits. taxes were uncertainty is holding on the money on the sidelines -- no business knows what taxes are going to be january 1. now you may. >> when a party has a huge majority, it has huge diversity. that is part of the problem democrats have. >> you interrupted to say that?

>> yes. >> all right. >> for tonight i an ounce the "rally to restore sanity baucus [applause] -- i announce the "rally to restore sanity." [applause] >> a lot of people think it is a great idea, people not comfortable with glenn beck- sarah palin politics. what do you think, colby? >> i am not down with stephen colbert, because my name is colbert. the white colberts purchased my ancestors from people who were -- >> you cannot hang that on stephen colbert. >> no, but it has always been the white colberts and black

colberts saying it that way. how dare he bring himself to washington. >> i am a devotee of the program because it is fun. >> i have never watched it. >> he has been pretty savage about obama and democrats whose new people, too. so i'd like the idea of a rally for sanity. -- democrats who smear people, too. so i'd like the idea for a rally for sanity. >> is this good for democrats, mark? >> know. the president and vice president says this is important. what are we going to do the last weekend? laughed and giggled. >> i will join the rally. i want a restoration of sanity,

and we will get it election day. >> tell us more about why this is bad for democrats. >> -- >> the 1964 republican race came down to nelson rockefeller and barry goldwater. happy rockefeller, who left her six children to marry nelson rockefeller, and divorced his wife of 30 years to marry a happy rockefeller, delivered a son, born at the saturday before. that is what was on everybody's mind. it was announced on sunday in "the l.a. times," and everybody said, "that is the guy to walk out on his wife and she walked out on the family." you want people thinking on tuesday it about giggles, that was funny, wasn't that great, or do you want to say that this is

an important election and we have big decisions to make? >> is there a chance that the opposite will happen, that they will fire people? -- fire people? >> his appearance before the congressional committee -- >> colbert. >> he mocked congress and they were clueless. they did not understand what was going on. a lot of people are unhappy and suffering and it is no laughing issue. when you add it to all the things that democrats have not succeeded in doing in this congress, and you add the mockery and the idiocy of the colbert hearing, it looks like an unserious body in a serious time. >> i am sort of on the same page, but it is not the same as delivering a son at the weekend before. you can have better kinds of rallies.

but i don't think it will have a huge effect. >> but these guys are comedians. >> they are comedians, comedians i don't watch it, by the way, but that is irrelevant. >> you are culturally illiterate. >> thank you. i appreciate that. i had no idea before you said that. you have five seats in the senate leading republican -- kentucky, pennsylvania, russ feingold lost his seat -- russ feingold's seat -- and that is the issue now. and these guys are going to come in and mock the whole thing? >> that is mark's point but people should be knocking on doors and instead they're coming down here. >> i think they will make a point, a serious point.

i think it might fire up a lot of people who feel the love. >> you are culturally superior, i guess you -- >> no, i am not superior, i just watch what people younger than me watch. >> is this rally going to be covered? are you kidding me? jon stewart and stephen colbert, whatever you feel about them, and i think they are enormously talented, our pop culture icons. they will lead the evening news on saturday and sunday, and there will be longer coverage. that is not the message for democrats when you talk about people suffering and the country hurting and going back to people who have been irresponsible in the six years they ran the country, the republicans. that is not what you want -- >> it is clearly a product of the vast right-wing conspiracy. >> the income disparity is

greater than it has been in decades. how can you make fun of this? how can you do it? >> the question remains unanswered. last word. see you next week. for a transcript of this broadcast, log on to insidewashington.tv.

gwen: washington hates uncertainty. but that's all we've got right now. uncertainty as congress leaves up to to campaign and uncertainty as a washington up to to campaign and uncertainty as a washington upheaval